Google Will Ban All Cryptocurrency-Related Ads Starting June 2018

Google is actually banning ads related to bitcoin in addition to some other cryptocurrencies beginning June 2018, as part of a broader crackdown on the marketing of high-risk financial products.

The change was announced in Google’s annual “bad ads” report reviewing deceptive in addition to malicious ad formats in which the company has scrubbed through its network.

“We don’t have a crystal ball to know where the future is actually going to go with cryptocurrencies, yet we’ve seen enough consumer harm or potential for consumer harm in which the idea’s an area in which we want to approach with extreme caution,” Google’s director of sustainable ads, Scott Spencer, told CNBC.

The move follows a similar announcement through Facebook — Google’s largest internet advertising rival — which banned cryptocurrency-related ads through its platform in January after receiving criticism through users for featuring ads promoting get-rich-quick schemes in addition to potential scams. A BuzzFeed News report highlighted how scammers were using Facebook advertising to spread bitcoin- in addition to cryptocurrency-related fake news to artificially inflate the cost of their holdings.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment through BuzzFeed News.